Updated | Unemployment rate down by 238 in one month

The number of registered unemployed with the Employment and Training Corporation amounted to 7,401 in December, down by 238 from the previous month.

Welcoming the reduction, the government said statistics proved that with "a focused leadership and positive energy results can be achieved".

Between March and December 2013, the number of registered unemployed remained stable while between December 2012 and March 2013 the number had risen from 6,811 to 7,350.

"During the previous administration's last 90 days, registered unemployed increased by 539 persons... a daily average of six," the government said.

It noted that the increase in registered unemployed took place even though 710 persons had been employed with the public sector. The government added that during the Nationalist administration's first nine months in power in 2008 had resulted in an increase of 205 individuals registering. "This was four times more than the number of persons registering for work in 2013."

According to the Labour Force Survey, 5,300 new job places were recorded last year, the majority of which were in full-time employment.

Eurostat figures confirm that Malta has the fourth lowest rate of unemployment within the European Union. The rate of youth unemployment was on the decrease as well.

Data provided by the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) for December indicate an increase of 665 persons registering when compared to the corresponding month in 2012.

The National Statistics Office said that between December 2012 and December 2013 registered unemployment in Malta rose to 6,672, while that in Gozo went up to 729. The number of registrants under the age of 25 accounted for 15.9 per cent of the total. Of these, 789 or 67.2 per cent, were males. During the same period, the number of unemployed aged 45 and over stood at 3,100, equivalent to 41.9 per cent of the total registered unemployed persons in December 2013.

When compared to December 2012, an increase of 582 persons was recorded among registrants whose duration of unemployment exceeded one year. On the other hand, the number of persons who had been registering for less than 21 weeks declined.

The number of registrants with disability totalled 526 during the month under review; 440 were males and 86 were females.

The largest share of unemployed men were seeking occupations in services, crafts and related jobs, whereas women mostly sought clerical and technical and associated professional occupations.

Excluding part-time employment, the registered unemployment rate in August 2013 stood at 4.5 per cent of the labour supply, and varied from 5.3 per cent among men to 3.1 per cent among women. 

The registered unemployment rate among persons aged 45 and over stood at 5.2 per cent, while that for persons under 25 was 5.1 per cent. The long-term unemployment rate stood at 1.8 per cent.